I kept saying “It just won’t happen” or “There is just no way that this guy gets the nomination.” Well, we may not be there yet but things are looking scary.

Sure, 60% and more of Republicans have voted against him in the primaries and caucuses. That margin, however, has been divided between 15 other candidates. Then down to 12. Then 7…6…4…3. Three are now splitting the Republican voters and while Trump may not have a majority, he certainly has a plurality. And it appears that his march to 1237 is all but inevitable.

Okay, maybe not inevitable. He probably won’t win the majority by the time of the Republican Convention in Cleveland, OH, but he will certainly have more than anyone else.

And what if he has the most of anyone and still has the nomination kept away from him by party boss chicanery? Trump hinted at what would happen in his none-too-subtle way last week by saying “There are going to be riots.”

Is this mere bluster? I look at history and it paints a frightening picture. Even recent history.

Look at the violence already when people simply carry a placard or poster into a Trump rally that is not in support of Trump. He heightens the carnival atmosphere when he turns on his cheerleading of thuggery inside the rally venues.

He speaks of wanting to “punch them in the face” when someone dares to disagree. Even observers who don’t quite look like his supporters are shown the door. Hurried to the door. Thrown out the door. And sucker-punched on the way out. Then the hillbilly threatens a lynching if he sees the protester again.

Trump had already hinted at gun violence when he said, “I could shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue and I wouldn’t lose a vote.” Then the descent into madness accelerated when, in a Saturday rally in Phoenix, Arizona, Donald J. Trump yelled to his minions, “We’re going to win with our Second Amendment. We’re gonna win big league with our Second Amendment!”From threatened riots to assured gun violence, Trump continues to whip up the frenzy. He gives the Trump thumbs-up to armed violence. Say it this way…revolution.

Not the revolution that Grandpa Bernie is talking about. No indeed, Bernie’s revolution is the product of democratic action and turning out to vote in ever-larger numbers. Trump’s revolution would be bloody. And his brown-shirts are mimicking his rhetoric.

Already, Trump supporters have called for protesters to be tear-gassed. They were pepper-sprayed. A Trump supporter drove his Jeep into a crowd of protesters.

Trump’s predilection for thuggery, threats and violence began as demeaning Latinos. Then women. Then Muslims. Now anyone who does not believe in him. Did you see him make his audience raise their right hands and swear fealty to himself? No American leader has ever demanded swearing allegiance to himself.

It looked like the Nuremberg Rallies.

Now he is threatening to unleash the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America to finish what rhetoric alone cannot.

We can no longer say that Trump is simply play-acting—that he is only charging up his base.

I understand what makes a person support Trump. I understand the anger at the way that both political parties have sought to by-pass the will of the voters. I’m sick of both parties. I’m sick of government as much as the next guy. But violence of any sort—especially armed violence—is madness.

As one person said, “Someone should probably tell the Republican National Committee that Ohio, where the Republican Convention is going to be held this summer, is an open carry state.”

Will Trump supporters re-enact the Munich Beerhall Putsch of 1923? Will “good guys with guns” have the final answer to Trump’s insurgency?

Is this how our country will decide its fate—its future? With guns? The cost to our national soul will be dear and it is closer to reality than you may think.